Ohio: JSW Steel, India’s leading steel company, has proposed an investment of upto US$ 500 million in acquiring, enhancing & upgrading Acero Junction Inc, an integrated steel manufacturing unit with a potential capacity of 3 MTPA, located at Ohio USA, in phases. This takes JSW’s overall investment blueprint for the US market, to produce American melt and manufactured steel, to up to US$ 1 billion. The proposed investment will be made in two phases at its Ohio steel manufacturing facility.
In Phase 1, JSW will revamp & restart the electric arc furnace and the slab caster, and modernize the hot strip mill. The proposed investment including the cost of acquisition, is expected to be approximately US$250 million.
In Phase 2, depending upon the economic viability & prevailing market conditions, JSW will evaluate the possibility of adding another electric arc furnace as well as additional manufacturing equipment at the hot strip mill to make the Ohio facility a fully integrated unit with 3 MTPA capacity. The proposed investment in Phase 2 could be in the range of upto US$250 million, subject to feasibility studies & necessary approvals.
The integrated steel manufacturing unit in Ohio, with a potential capacity of 3 MTPA, was acquired as part of the recently concluded Acero Junction Holdings Inc. deal. A certificate evidencing the proposed investments by JSW Steel was signed by Wilbur Ross, Secretary, US Dept of Commerce and Jayant Acharya, Board Member and Director (Commercial & Marketing), JSW Steel Ltd at SelectUSA Investment Summit held at the National Harbor, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C.
According to Parth Jindal, Director – JSW Steel (USA) Inc, “JSW is pleased to share its intention for additional investments in the US market. It is our fundamental belief that due to the rich availability of scrap metal and abundance of natural gas, making steel through EAF route is highly competitive in USA from a global standpoint. Over the past few months we have announced the backward integration of our plate and pipe mill in Baytown, Texas. Through our acquisition of Acero Junction we further our product range as we will be able to supply American Melted and Manufactured Hot Rolled coils. It is our intention to further augment our capacity in Acero Junction over the next few years and, subject to necessary approvals, to take the combined capacity of JSW USA to 4 MTPA (3 MTPA at Acero and 1 MTPA at Baytown), which will be 100% American Melted and Manufactured.”
“We are excited to welcome JSW Steel to Ohio,” said Kristi Tanner, Senior Managing Director – JobsOhio, “its planned investment in Acero Junction Holdings will bring cutting-edge technology that will revitalize the facility and bring good-paying jobs to the community.”
The proposed investment by JSW Steel follows the Memorandum signed by JSW Steel (USA) Inc in March 2018 to consider an investment of upto US$ 500 million (subject to “EPA” approval) for expanding its operations in Texas, USA. JSW Steel (USA) Inc operates one of the widest steel plate & pipe mills in North America. Strategically located in Baytown, Texas, approximately 30 miles outside Houston, the unit services the needs of the energy, petrochemicals, defence and other heavy equipment industries in USA who need high quality carbon plate.
JSW Steel’s newly acquired Acero Junction Holding Inc’s steel manufacturing facility, located on the bank of Ohio river, uses electric arc furnace route to produce hot rolled coils. It includes a 1.5 MTPA Electric Arc Furnace (EAF), a 2.80 MTPA slab caster and a 3.0 MTPA Hot Strip Mill (HSM). The HSM is capable of producing a wide range of steel grades in widths upto 2,000 mm wide and from thicknesses in the range of 1.5mm – 10 mm.
